A 43-year-old father was fatally shot by police in Las Vegas after he called 911 for help while fighting off an intruder in his home.
The family of Brandon Durham, including his 15-year-old daughter who was hiding in a nearby room when her father was killed, have asked for the officer to be fired.
Mr Durham’s teenage daughter said she was “disgusted” with Las Vegas police as they treated him like “the suspect” not “the victim”.
A lawyer for Alexander Bookman, the officer who shot Mr Durham, said he committed no crimes.
The incident last week brought police shootings back into the spotlight, occurring just days before the Justice Department opened an investigation into the death of Sonya Massey, who was fatally shot in July by an officer inside her home in Illinois.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Mr Bookman, 26, had been placed on paid administrative leave while they conduct an internal review of the 12 November incident.
Mr Durham had called 911 to report that two people were shooting outside and were trying to break into his home, police said in a press statement.
Officers responding to the report found cars with broken windows outside.
They also noticed damage to the house and heard yelling from inside, police said, prompting Mr Bookman to kick down the front door to enter.
Body camera footage released by the police shows Mr Bookman walking through the home with his gun drawn, while screaming and banging can be heard out of view.
Turning the corner of an L-shaped hallway, the officer finds a shirtless Mr Durham wrestling over a knife with a woman wearing a ski mask, later identified as 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux.
Mr Bookman yells, “hey, drop the knife, drop the knife”, seconds before firing a shot hitting Mr Durham and sending him and Ms Boudreaux to the ground.
Mr Bookman then fires five more shots at Mr Durham and says “put your hands up”, body-worn camera footage released by police showed.
Mr Durham was pronounced dead on the scene. Ms Boudreaux was arrested and charged with four counts, including home invasion with a deadly weapon.
“I am disgusted in how the Metropolitan Police told my father, after killing him, to stay down,” Mr Durham’s daughter told local news. “I’m disgusted that the Metropolitan Police will allow me to live fatherless for the rest of my life.”
The family’s attorney has asked for an immediate arrest warrant for Mr Bookman.
“Unlike a civil case, in which an individual’s negligence is at issue, criminal cases require proof of a person’s criminal intent,” David Roger, general counsel for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, said in a statement to CNN. “While Mr. Durham’s death is tragic, Officer Bookman was doing his job and did not intend to commit a crime.”
Citing a police report, local news outlets said Mr Durham and Ms Boudreaux were previously in a romantic relationship.
Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said police did not find a gun on the scene, despite multiple reports of shots fired.
The similar details between Mr Durham’s death and that of Sonya Massey, the Illinois woman who was shot and killed by police in her home after calling for help, have renewed calls for police reform.
